Oxymoron
by XIIIAnonymous
Summary: Some people are smartly dumb. And some are just dumbly smart. Soriku
1. Meeting

Riku Kania had never been a people person. He didn't like animals much either, but if he had ever had to choose, he would have gone with the animals. You could never get to know anyone anyways. People were always making up stuff, about themselves and other people.

That was the only thing Riku really couldn't stand- the way people told lies. The so-called toughest guy in school? Riku had caught him crying in the boy's bathroom over a paper cut. The girl who told everyone a sob story about how her parents were getting divorced? That had been two years ago, and her mom and dad still visited the school holding hands and calling each other sugar sweet pet names. She had tried to cover it up by saying the fights only happened at home, but even a blind hobo could see that her parents loved each other. Still, everyone believed her. They gave her extra attention, like she was a charity case.

Naturally, Riku tended to avoid socializing. But not as if other humans were some kind of plague. It was more like a magnet- south and north didn't attract.

The silver haired teenager didn't mind. He'd survived without people for years, just him. And Riku absolutely hated it when other students came to him at lunch, all smiles and pity-filled glances, and asked him to sit with them, just because he sat alone.

But you couldn't go through your whole life like that, right?

--

Riku maneuvered his way through the crowded hall, a bored expression etched into his features. Talking, laughing, shouting swirled around him.

Suddenly, a loud crash, enough to make Riku jump, sounded over the chatter. Everyone looked around to see where it had come from.

A boy wearing a ridiculous looking blue beanie was pushing another boy, a blonde wearing camouflage, up against a locker. More specifically, Riku's locker. The two glared at each other heavily.

Ignoring people's calls and jeers for them to fight, Riku stepped around the group that had formed in a semi-circle around his locker. Just as the boy with the beanie raised his fist, Riku spoke.

"Excuse me."

Seemingly shocked, the boy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're blocking my locker." Riku said, as he hoisted his backpack higher onto his shoulder. They stared each other down, Riku and the stranger with issues, calculating.

Lunging, the boy took a swing at him. His face was contorted with rage. Riku dodged, and his fist soared past with the boy's body following soon after.

The blonde got up, and made a move towards them, but someone reached out of the crowd and yanked him away before he could move. Not that he would have, with Riku's fierce glare.

Riku knew that beanie-boy would come back for revenge, so he watched out of the corner of his eye as he turned the dial on his locker.

Turns out he was right. The boy jumped at him again, but Riku slid out of the way before he even touched him.

A tanned brown haired boy materialized beside beanie-boy, along with a short, silver haired girl.

"Seifer, you should just leave, you know?" The boy advised, flashing a nervous look in Riku's direction.

"Agreed." The girl nodded shortly.

Seifer looked as if he might argue, but after considering Riku, he shoved his way through the crowd to leave. You could audibly hear the other students sigh in disappointment.

Riku, cool and collected, returned to opening his locker. As the door swung wide with a metallic clang, the teenagers in the hallway began to move again, now that there was no roadblock.

People were all the same.

--

"Thank you."

Riku frowned, head whipping up. He'd been staring thoughtfully at his lunch a second before.

"Huh?"

A brunette boy stood in front of him, hair spiked up, a blue lunchbox clutched in his hands. He swallowed nervously; like he was talking to God or something. Riku found the motion amusing.

"For…for before. That boy was my friend." The brunette explained, pulling out the chair so that he could sit down across from Riku.

"I didn't do it for him," Riku said dismissively, returning to his turkey sandwich. He expected the exchange to end at that.

"I know, I just…wanted to thank you anyways." The brunette boy began to unzip the lunchbox. "Um…I'm Sora, by the way."

"I see," Riku replied, and he would have left it at that, but he couldn't see any harm in telling Sora his name. "Riku."

Sora nodded slowly, his mouth full of what smelled like bologna sandwich. Chewing, his blue eyes avoided Riku's green pair.

"Why are you always alone?"

Riku's eyes narrowed sharply. But Sora only looked honestly curious, none of the fake pity the others had shown. He even continued to eat, as if he didn't really expect Riku to answer the question.

"No reason."

"Oh." Sora blinked, unbelieving. "But there has to be a reason. There's a reason for everything."

This kid actually thought that what he was saying was true, 100%. Riku could see it in the innocently stubborn way he glanced up, and frowned slightly.

"Why is that?"

Sora's eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated hard.

"You see? There's not a reason why you believe that." Pointing out this fact, the silver-haired teen took a sip from his juice pouch.

Sora frowned, then said, "I guess there isn't, is there? It's still true though." Hastily tacked on, like those four words were said in his dying breath.

"If you say so." Riku conceded, not wanting to fight over something so trivial. And he smiled, just a little, for the first time in years, at something another person had done.

:::::

Well, here's my latest Soriku! :D I hope you enjoyed. If you see any mistakes, please tell me so that I can fix them.

This story is for CynTeeny15 on deviantart, as a request. The people on deviantart got it a little earlier than you guys, because fanfiction decided to be mean. -_-

Part two will be coming out as soon as I finish it. ^.^


	2. Change

Sora continued to occupy Riku's mind for the rest of the week. The brunette sat with him at lunch every day, providing one-sided conversation that Riku was becoming used to fast.

"Don't you have other friends to sit with?" He asked, interrupting one of Sora's rants about fried chicken.

Sora, looking slightly hurt, replied, "Well, yeah, but I like sitting with you."

"Why?" Taking advantage of Sora's belief that there was a reason for everything, Riku tossed his empty juice pouch into one of the gray trash cans near their table.

"The way you think is interesting." Sora responded honestly, following the action with his eyes and doing the same.

Riku accepted this answer, leaning back comfortably as the brunette began to paint pictures with words again. He liked the fact that Sora had a way with words, but not in the fancy sense. The way he spoke was so simple, and yet thoughtful, so that the listener really appreciated the story.

"Hey!" Both Riku and Sora turned towards the impolite voice. Recognizing the boy as the blonde from the fight a few days earlier, Riku stared expectantly. Behind him, a boy with spiky blonde hair stood frowning.

"Hi, Hayner, Roxas." Sora greeted nervously, the anxiety directed mostly towards the blonde in front, who Riku assumed was Hayner.

Said person's eyes narrowed. "Sora, why're you sitting with him, and not us?"

"Um…" Sora began sheepishly, much like a coworker would apologize to their boss for being late. "I wanted to make friends with Riku, but, but I'll sit with you guys tomorrow-"

Cutting him off, Hayner accused, "Don't tell me you're gay for this guy. Sheesh, I always knew you were a fag."

"What? No, I'm-"Sora broke off, casting scared glances at Riku. So this Hayner guy was definitely not Sora's friend.

Roxas, stepping up, put a calming hand on Hayner's shoulder. "Hayner, we can just sit over here if you want Sora to sit with us so bad."

Eyeing Riku critically, the blonde couldn't find a proper argument for that. He reluctantly sat down.

Riku did not like Hayner at all, or the way he treated Sora. He didn't know about Roxas, though. The spiky-haired blonde gave Sora a reassuring glance before sitting down next to him, quickly, so that Hayner couldn't.

Riku watched, amused, as Hayner regarded the empty seat next to the silverette with disgust. Opting instead to sit next to Roxas, he immediately took control of the dialogue.

--

"I'm really sorry about Hayner." Sora said tentatively, walking next to Riku on the way out to the buses. The silver-haired teen shook his head, wordlessly telling him that it was okay. It wasn't Sora's fault that Hayner was a stuck-up ass. Though Riku couldn't really see why he put up with it, even if Sora seemed to be the type to do that.

"Hey, Riku."

"Hm?" Riku responded unintelligently, too lazy to formulate a better reply.

Sora appeared to search for words before asking, "You know that English project? The one where you can have partners?"

"Yeah."

"Will you be my partner?"

"Sure."

Sora blinked, aqua blue eyes. "For serious?"

Half-smiling at the cute phrase, Riku nodded. He wasn't the type of person to joke like that. And just the fact that Riku had agreed made Sora look so much happier; since the encounter with Hayner he had been gloomy and unresponsive. The silver-haired senior couldn't rain on his parade.

"Thank you so much!" Cheered Sora, grinning mouth and waving arms and shining eyes.

A low, quiet chuckling came from Riku. Sora stared, dumbstruck.

"Riku! You laughed!"

Still snickering, Riku said, "I know." Wondering.

In just a few days, had things really changed so much? And maybe for the better, too…

:::::

So, this one's considerably shorter than the other one. But it seemed a good place to end. Sorry this took so long! :( Chapter three will be out as soon as I can get it done.

Reviews are welcome and appreciated!


	3. Days

The said English project was due on a Friday, which didn't really make sense to Riku, who thought that maybe it should have been the following Monday. Kids would just claim that they left it at home and then finish over the weekend.

Riku, on the other hand, made sure that Sora would not do this. They agreed to meet at Sora's house on a Wednesday, which was four days from today. Another thing that the silverette didn't understand: everyone had a whole week and two days to write a review for a 500 page book, and it was one that they had already read.

Lunch continued normally as well, only with the addition of Hayner and Roxas. As much he hated to admit it, he missed the one on one session with Sora, where the younger boy would speak his mind. With Hayner breathing down his neck, this wasn't likely.

"Dude, why are you always alone?"

Riku was used to this question, and so he ignored it. Munching on his sandwich, he watched Sora instead, the way his shoulders visibly sagged.

"Hey, I asked you a question!"

Maybe Sora had come sit with him that day in order to escape Hayner? That would be understandable.

"Dammit, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Riku lazily slid aquamarine eyes to examine Hayner, whose face was flushed with anger.

"Well?!"

Suddenly an unexpected voice rose. "Hayner, Riku doesn't like that question."

Hayner turned his glare to Sora, but for once said nothing. It seemed that he was tired of fighting for now, for some reason or another. Riku was grateful for that.

Roxas never said much either when Hayner was around, only soothing his anger whenever it found a victim in Sora, or now, Riku. Seeing that the danger was passed, the spiky-haired blonde relaxed in his seat again.

These three had a strange relationship. Hayner was the leader, bullying Sora for every little thing. Sora was, of course, the victim, with Roxas as his subtle protector. Somehow Roxas could calm Hayner down until he left Sora alone.

And now Riku was there, the bystander who watched and listened to them interact.

--

"Hayner's not here today." Roxas said, sounding relieved as he dropped a checkered lunchbox on the table.

Riku merely nodded, eyes searching for Sora. The small brunette was nowhere in sight.

"Sora isn't either." Continued Roxas, noticing the older boy's glances.

"Oh."

"While they're both not here, I wanted to talk to you." The blonde proposed, and then flicked his blue eyes up to meet Riku's. The lunchbox lay untouched.

"Go ahead." Riku spoke, seeing that Roxas was waiting for an answer. Considerate of him.

Taking a deep breath, Roxas exhaled in a windy sigh. "You've seen how Hayner treats Sora, right?" Not waiting for Riku's reply, he plowed on, "Hayner and Sora's parents were friends in high school, so Sora feels obligated to do the same."

"Hold on." The silverette stopped him. "Would Sora want you to tell me this?"

Roxas gave him a long, calculating look. "Probably not. But I think that you should know, if you're going to be around us a lot."

So wait, what did that mean? Was Riku being slowly initiated into the group, without even realizing it?

"Sora and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Hayner came into the picture after first grade, but back then he wasn't the way he is now." A slight frown. "That only started after seventh grade. I stick around to make he sure he doesn't beat up on Sora too bad, but if not for that, I would have left a long time ago." He raised his eyes once again to stare at Riku. "Do you get what I'm asking you?"

Riku shook his head no, not understanding.

"Try not to make Hayner angry, because he'll take it out on Sora later." Another resigned sigh, like a tired elder. "It's been that way for a while…"

Riku could almost hear what he was thinking:

_I wonder why?_

--

"Riku!"

Almost collapsing under the weight of Sora's tackle hug, Riku quickly recovered and stood bent over, with Sora clinging to his back. Since Sora wasn't all that heavy, standing straight again wasn't difficult. And the younger male seemed delighted at the chance for a piggy-back ride.

"You're coming to my house tomorrow night, right?" Asked eagerly, hopefully.

"Yes, Sora. We already decided that." Riku replied patiently.

"Great!" Sora chirped, hugging Riku's middle tighter, as he was about to slide off. "You can meet my parents, and my sister! My parents are really funny, and Olette's really nice, and-"

"I get it." Riku interrupted without diplomacy, feeling his lips quirk upward. That had been happening a lot more lately.

"I wonder what we're gonna have for dinner?" Sora wondered out loud. "I hope it's ravioli." He finally allowed Riku to dump him off, staggering a bit, but otherwise unharmed.

"Project comes first." Riku poked a squishy stomach.

Giggling and batting the offending hand away, Sora's eyes danced with glee. "No, food!"

The playful banter continued, unhindered, until the buses arrived to take them home. The two went their separate ways, each looking forward to the next day. Even if one of them didn't admit it.

::::

880 words. I'm back up to my 800-word limit, since I don't want the chapters to be uber short. :) Besides, it's not hard. When I'm writing this story, words just flow from my fingers. X3

Was this a little overdone? Again, new to this mood of writing. =P

Oh my, I just noticed that I'm writing in Riku's point of view. I mean, I noticed it before, I just didn't notice it. XD Ah, never mind. It's just kind of cool that I'm writing in the seme's point of view.

As always, this story is for CynTeeny15 on deviantart. ^^ If you catch any mistakes, please tell me so that I can fix them.


	4. Sigh

Lunch passed by peacefully the next day- Hayner wasn't there again. Roxas and Sora were entertaining together, almost opposite, but so alike.

"Riku! Guess what?"

"What?"

"You're coming to my house today!"

"I know, Sora. You told me five seconds ago." Riku sighed, as Roxas snickered in the background. The brunette had been ecstatic about it, reminding Riku at every possible chance he could get.

"I can't wait! We-"Riku cut him off quickly, sensing that he was going to go off on a tangent about what the two of them could do.

"So, Roxas, what are you doing today?"

The blonde's eyes widened slightly, obviously not expecting to be asked a question. "Oh, I'm…going out with some friends."

"Who? Who?" Sora gazed at Roxas curiously.

"No one," Roxas replied, looking uncomfortable. Riku noticed him stare across the cafeteria. Luckily the bundle of energy beside him didn't, only frowned in disappointment.

"What were you saying before, Sora?" A mischievous glance. Riku visibly deflated as Sora's eyes lit up like blue lamps.

"Oh, right! We could play video games, or watch movies, and if we do that we have to eat popcorn, and…"

Riku tuned the rest out, leaning back and letting his eyelids slide shut.

--

"My bus is this way." Grabbing the silver-haired senior's hand, Sora yanked him towards a long yellow bus. For some reason, this one was painted a more bursting, vibrant golden than the others. But Riku didn't have much time to ponder this fact. Sora called out a greeting to the driver and then tugged Riku towards a double seat in the back, while several of the other students heading home flashed amused glances at each their seatmates, apparently used to this sort of thing.

Plopping down with a smile, the brunette junior exuberantly smacked the spot next to him.

"So, Riku what are we gonna to do first?"

"Project." Riku said reflexively, knowing that Sora's mind wandered easily.

"Right, right." Sora agreed amiably. He nodded, not sounding as excited as before.

"Then video games." Riku tacked on, in an attempt to cheer Sora up.

Another nod, this one just a little happier than the other.

"Anything I should be warned about?"

"Huh?" Sora's features twisted into confusion. "About what?"

"Your parents, sister."

"Hmm. Well…" Sora appeared to concentrate. "Olette doesn't like it when you insult her gerbil's bald spot, and my mom hates it when people don't use proper English. My dad…umm…my dad doesn't like classical music at all." A satisfied smile. "Yep, that's about it."

"Good to know." Riku chuckled quietly. Yes, he'd have to remember the bald spot. And heaven forbid that he should bring up Chopin in Sora's house.

Suddenly an orange blur flew at Riku's face. Ducking just in time, the object splattered against the back of the bus. Riku blinked at the object, an orange, in shock.

"Tidus!" Sora screeched, mortified. "You almost hit Riku!" He began to check the senior for any residue, combing through the silver locks. Riku didn't stop him. It felt nice, actually.

A faint, "Sorry, man!" came from up front. Riku managed to catch a glimpse of the bus driver. Her wrinkled face was amused as she stared at them from the rear-view mirror, only keeping slight watch on the road. What kind of place was this, where people get hit by _oranges_? And the bus driver didn't even _care_?

And the wheels of the bus went round and round.

--

After three more near misses with Tidus's oranges, the hectic bus ride was finally over, and Sora climbed off with Riku in tow. Grateful that the experience was over, Riku followed him willingly to the front door of a small, white house, with painted blue windows. Sora flung the door open.

"We're home!" He called into the hallway, sliding his shoes off. Riku mimicked the silent action inconspicuously.

A chorus of, "Welcome home!" answered their arrival. A brown head poked around a corner, and a small, green-eyed girl, presumably Sora's sister, ran out to inspect the newcomer.

Riku waited patiently as Olette circled him critically. Sora had given him a heads up about this.

The eleven year old looked up, eyes sparkling- and proceeded to give Riku a huge hug. "You pass!" She chirped, her voice happy, and then moved on to embrace Sora. He chuckled as he returned the action.

"Now go and do your project, Sora!" Olette shooed him towards the stairs.

"Not even a snack?" Complaining, Sora sent a desperate glance back at Riku.

"Nope! Now go!"She seemed to notice Riku again. "You too!"

Riku allowed himself to be pushed up the stairs, Olette only leaving them alone when they were at the top step.

"Have fun!" Steps boomed back down to the first floor.

--

"Ahhhh…" Sora sighed, erasing his sentence so brutally that he almost tore the paper. "I'm so hungry…"

"Only a little more to go." Riku encouraged, already done with his review. Hey, it wasn't his fault that he could properly focus. He was seated on the floor, against Sora's bed. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the silverette rested his head and body against the hard wood.

"Can I try something?" Came Sora's voice, whispered and far away, like a slight breeze. Riku felt himself mumble in reply.

He heard the shuffle of fabric, and of Sora moving, before a gust of air hit his face, surprisingly close.

He had never thought of kissing Sora. But now that he was, Riku couldn't see why not. Then again, he had the excuse of being new to kissing, as he could tell Sora was. It was warm and soundless, with the exception of a wet smacking of lips every once in a while.

Riku couldn't tell how long they had been at it when a voice carried to their ears.

"Sora, Riku, dinner's ready!"

Springing away from Riku, face flushed, Sora gasped for breath. He stared at Riku anxiously, attempting to judge whether his reaction was good or bad.

Riku offered the best reassurance he could give: A wide, joyful grin. Sora's answering laugh rang like bells.

::::

I tried. . I still suck at kissing scenes. Oh well. We win some, we lose some.

So, next up is Teacher Teacher, which I should have done first, but…XD

See you next time! Reviews of all sizes and colors are loved. X3


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